Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 21-22 November 2020, the heads of states and governments of the G20, chaired by Saudi Arabia, held an online meeting.

The G20 leaders discussed the following issues:

1) overcoming the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic;

2) strengthening health systems and ensuring universal access to vaccines;

3) ways to restore the world economy and write off the debts of poor countries;

4) cooperation in the field of the digital economy;

5) combating climate change.

Opening the summit, Saudi King Al-Saud stressed the need to ensure equal access for all countries to tools to combat COVID-19, including vaccines.

German Chancellor A. Merkel focused on solidarity in the fight against COVID-19 and advocated funding for WHO. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called on the G20 countries to allocate US$4.5 billion to provide developing countries with medicines and vaccines.

Speaking at the online summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “stagnant” unemployment and growing poverty remain the main risks for the world. Vladimir Putin noted that as part of the fight against the pandemic, the vaccine should be available to everyone, stating that he is ready to provide all countries with Russian-made vaccines - Sputnik V and EpiVacCorona.

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed to launch a global QR code system and a mechanism for the mutual recognition of health certificates that will be issued to people with a negative coronavirus test.

China has a health code system. Each person receives a "red", "yellow" or "green" QR code, taking into account the tests for coronavirus and other parameters.

US President Donald Trump limited himself to declaring his readiness to cooperate to restore the global economy, while missing a special session on the coronavirus pandemic. According to American media reports, the head of the White House went to one of the golf clubs at that time. According to The Guardian, Donald Trump intentionally demonstrated a lack of interest in the G20 coronavirus conference in this way.

The leaders of the countries also focused on the problem of uneven recovery of the global economy. It was noted that the G20 countries have taken emergency measures to support the national economy, supporting an infusion of more than US$11 trillion. 

To address the challenges of recovery in developing countries, G20 members approved a six-month moratorium on debt servicing for developing countries until mid-2021, with the possibility of further extensions. Deutsche Welle estimates that interest on loans that it has decided not to collect from the world's poorest countries is estimated at US$14 billion.

Summing up the results of the G20 summit, most experts agree that the decisions made by the member countries at the virtual summit are useful for combating the pandemic, but countries did not offer any “recipes” for overcoming the economic crisis.

First, the measures taken to restore the world economy and support developing countries will not give the expected effect. It is noted that even if the creditor countries do not charge interest on loans, the debts themselves will remain. Moreover, in the total debt of poor countries, interest is only a small fraction.

Second, making the drug widely available will be challenging for countries around the world. Experts note that the vaccine must be produced in sufficient quantities, as well as ensure its safe delivery to consumers (some vaccines must be stored at minus 70 degrees). According to experts, the vaccination of the first groups of the population will take about four months. The vaccine is expected to be available to populations in developed countries by April 2021, while less developed countries will have access by the end of 2021.

In general, according to experts, despite the achievement of a number of agreements on the most pressing issues, the last summit demonstrated fragmentation within the G20 in the absence of a pronounced leadership. 

Experts point out that the G20, against the background of the lack of cooperation of world powers, is losing its influence, since initially it does not represent a group of countries adhering to the same values.